


criss-crossed (in the wrong direction)

by murdermusicandmagic



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Based on a song, Bechloe Week, F/F, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25030504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murdermusicandmagic/pseuds/murdermusicandmagic
Summary: Beca never joined the Bellas, but she meets Chloe at a party and can't seem to forget about her.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	criss-crossed (in the wrong direction)

**Author's Note:**

> Submission for Bechloe Week Day 7: Panic
> 
> Based on the song "Missed Connection" by The Head and the Heart

**i. first you see it**

By Beca's count, this is the third party that Jesse has dragged her to so far in their short college career, and it's also the third that she has spent a considerable amount of time regretting. She has yet to master the skill of saying no to him, and it irritates her to no end. 

It's not even a good party, either. The booze is cheap (she would know, she's been dutifully sipping it for the past hour), and the music is almost as tasteless. Her hands itch to find whoever's responsible for putting Ke$ha on a frat party playlist and give them a piece of her mind, but she keeps them wrapped around her plastic cup and plasters a noticeably fake smile on her face as Jesse introduces her to yet another blonde girl that he knows from "around." She knows she's not dating Jesse, not technically, so the amount of girls he knows shouldn't bother her, but it does. They all look the same, too - tall, blonde, curvy, and nothing like her. 

"Chloe!" Jesse's shout interrupts her bitter inner monologue. "Bec, remember I told you about her? I think you'd like her." Beca grits her teeth and looks up. She's expecting another yellow-haired waste of time, and so she's not at all prepared for what's standing in front of her. 

The first word that goes through her head is _gorgeous_ , because Chloe is. Beca normally would never use a word like that, not even to herself, but she can't help it. The second Chloe's icy blue eyes lock onto hers, Beca knows the rules just don't apply to Chloe Beale. 

"Hi!" Chloe says cheerfully. "I'm so glad you came, Beca! Jesse talks about you _all_ the time." She smiles mischieviously at Jesse and sends a wink Beca's way, and Beca all but melts into a puddle right then and there. 

"I do not!" Jesse protests, and he and Chloe banter for a moment, but Beca is too busy observing everything about Chloe to notice. The way she flips her (naturally - Beca can tell) red hair over her shoulder when she laughs, the way her eyes dance when she looks at Beca to include her in the joke - Beca sees it all. She lets Jesse and Chloe do all the talking for her, content to just watch. 

The two of them eventually run out of things to make small talk about, however, and once it becomes clear that Beca either can't or won't do anything to contribute, an uncomfortable silence falls. Jesse is the first to bail.

"Hey, Bec, your drink is looking a little empty," he says, leaning over much too close under the pretense of looking in her cup.

Beca just looks at him. It's not empty - she hasn't touched it in the past five minutes - but she hands it to him anyway. It's all she can do not to physically restrain him from walking away and leaving her alone with Chloe.

"I'll go get us some refills. Chloe, you want anything?" Chloe tilts her own full cup at him as a response, and just like that, he's gone, reappearing at the beverage table with one of his many blonde friends already on his arm.

Beca doesn't think she could hate him any more than she does right now.

"Not much of a party person?" Chloe shouts over the music, giving Beca a conspiratorial nod as if they're in the same boat. 

"Um, no," Beca yells back. "Jesse dragged me here."

Chloe laughs. "I can see that." Her face lights up as the music changes. "I love this song!" 

To Beca's horror, Chloe starts dancing. It's somehow both endearing and incredibly alarming, but that's not the problem. The problem is that it's in front of _everyone_. Chloe doesn't seem to mind, however. She looks like she's genuinely enjoying herself. 

"Beca! Dance with me!"

"Dude, no!"

But Beca's protests break off into a yelp as Chloe grabs her hand and yanks her into the crowd with her. They'd been standing off to the side before, but now they're surrounded by people pressing into them on all sides. Beca starts to freak out a little, but then she looks up and feels herself coming back to earth, grounded by the crystal blue eyes sparkling in front of her. Chloe smiles down at her for a moment, but then gets impatient.

"Beca! You can't just stand there!" Chloe snakes her free arm around Beca's waist and pulls her even closer, if that were possible. 

And Beca will be damned if she doesn't dance right along with her. 

**___________________________**

Beca knew she was buzzed. After all, she had been consistently drinking the whole time she'd been there. She doesn't realize just how drunk she actually is, though, until the split second of silence between the songs playing over the speakers reminds her of just where she is.

"Beca?" Chloe is still there. Of course she is. "Are you okay?

A wave of embarrassment hits her like a truck, and she feels her face flush bright red. She doesn't have time for this. She can't dance at random parties with random girls she's just met. This isn't what she wanted. And yet-

"Where are you going?" The question gives Beca pause, and she stops, turns, sees Chloe standing a few feet away. Beca hadn't even realized she'd let go of her. The worry lines etched across her forehead cut through Beca like a knife, but she can't stay. She can't let herself lose control like that, can't let it all slip sideways now, not when she's so close to moving to L.A. and leaving all this behind forever. 

Beca holds Chloe's gaze, and then makes up her mind. She turns to leave, but as she walks away, she feels an overwhelming amount of regret, so much that she can hardly breathe. She almost turns and runs back to Chloe, her breath of fresh air, but she doesn't.

In the instant that she decides not to, a million doors close on everything they could have been.

**___________________________**

Chloe practically hears them slam.

**___________________________**

**ii. then you feel it**

Beca tries to forget Chloe, she really does. She dives headfirst into her music, staying up far too late working on mixes and constantly annoying her roommate. She works long hours at the radio station, and skips classes that she deems unimportant in favor of laying out on the quad with nothing but headphones and her laptop. For the most part, she's content. 

But every so often, a flash of red hair will catch her eye from across the quad, and she won't be able to get the image of Chloe's beautiful blue eyes out of her head for weeks afterward.

**___________________________**

Chloe tries to forget Beca, she really does. She attends every rehearsal for her a capella group, staying up far too late working on choreography for the girls and constantly annoying her roommate. She spends long hours in the library studying for exams with her friends, and gets way into the dating scene. For the most part, she's content. 

But no matter how many eyes she looks into, no matter who they're attached to, at the end of each night she can never get the image of the panic in Beca's stormy blue eyes out of her head. Desperate to leave.

**___________________________**

Desperate to stay. ****

**___________________________**

**iii. now i'm caught**

"There's no way." Beca crosses her arms in an attempt to look threatening. Jesse sees right past this act, and makes no effort to stop cajoling her. 

"C'mon, Becs, it'll be fun!"

"In what world do you think I'd ever consider a party fun?" she mutters, but she already knows she's fighting a losing battle. 

"Beca. Are you really going to be the one to stand in the way of me and my hot date?" Beca rolls her eyes. 

"I _am_ the hot date."

"Yes!" Jesse pumps a fist in the air. "You are the hot date! See you in ten." He's out the door before Beca can even protest, leaving her standing alone in her dorm, scowling. 

True to his word, Jesse is back at the door in ten minutes, cleaned up and slightly out of breath. He whistles approvingly at the outfit Beca has hastily thrown together, she rolls her eyes, and they're off.

**___________________________**

Beca is not at all involved in Barden's a capella scene. She's not involved in any scene, really, which is the main reason she never knows anyone but Jesse at these parties. She's not good with faces, either, so she never quite manages to retain enough information to hold a conversation with, well, _anyone_ , and she's sick of having to pretend to be interested in the lives of a dozen people she'll never see again. Still, she finds herself following miserably behind Jesse as he leads her through the crowded house and into the backyard as usual. He seems a little more eager to reintroduce her to everyone this time around, however. This is, after all, their first party as an official couple, which only makes it all the more painful for Beca. Her role tonight is arm candy, and she knows it.

She sees Chloe very briefly, from the other side of the pool. She's standing by the edge, chatting with yet another blonde girl. It's been almost two months since Beca has seen her around on campus, and she feels that familiar pang in her chest that she hates and at the same time has missed. It makes her wish Chloe would come say hello. 

"Hey, Bec, want me to go get you something to drink?" Jesse says, forcing Beca to tear her eyes away from Chloe and focus on him instead.

"Sure, yeah," she starts, looking back at Jesse, but breaks off when she realizes he's already gone, making a beeline for a folding table covered with red plastic cups. Classic Jesse, Beca thinks as she watches him greet several older girls who are standing there, and who all immediately laugh at whatever he says to them. It's debatable whether he's flirting or just being nice, but Beca can hardly bring herself to care at this point. 

**___________________________**

The lights in the host's backyard are flashy and bright and colorful and change along with the beat. Chloe likes them. She's big on ambience, and they definitely add to it. They make the sequins on her friend Jessica's shirt sparkle and the water in the pool glow emerald green one second and ruby red the next.

Chloe tells Jessica as much, but all she does is laugh and do a little shimmy that casts light from the sequins onto Chloe's dress, so Chloe gives up and dances along with her.

"Oh!" Jessica exclaims when she gets a message on her phone. "Ashley just got here! She said to come find her. You wanna come, Chloe?" 

"That's okay, you go ahead! Tell Ashley to come say hi later, though."

"Will do." Jessica disappears into the crowd, leaving Chloe alone.

Chloe sways in place, sipping from her cup. Without anyone to talk to, her mind wanders, and she wishes she was surprised where it lands. She hasn't seen Beca at a party since that first one all those months ago, but at every party Chloe has attended since, she finds herself hoping that maybe this will be the time. 

She sees Jesse talking to a couple of girls over at the drinks table, and remembers Aubrey telling her that he'd asked out "that alternative girl" during their shift at the radio station one day. She doesn't see Beca with him, though, and with a sinking heart, she turns away.

The lights change, the crowd parts, and then there she is. 

Beca's standing in the middle of the crowd, but from where Chloe is standing, it's as if she's the only other person in the world. She looks like she's glowing, and the silky purple fabric of her dress shimmers when she crosses her arms across her chest. _She looks lost_ , Chloe thinks, and then she shakes her head at herself.

She looks _beautiful._

The thought has barely crossed her mind before Beca's eyes are on hers.

**___________________________**

Beca continues to stare dully in Jesse's direction. He's clearly not coming back, and despite the fact that she doesn't have anyone else to talk to, she doesn't particularly want him to.

The thought makes her guilty and a little uncomfortable, and she tears her eyes away, unable to stomach the scene in front of her any longer. As she turns, the crowd shifts, and Beca freezes, pinned down by a pair of piercing blue eyes.

Beca doesn't move. She wants to, but she can't seem to make her limbs work properly at the moment, and resorts to making extended, unbroken eye contact across the yard.

Beca doesn't move, but Chloe does.

**___________________________**

Beca has never been the type to have any sort of long-standing relationship. Jesse is an anomaly of sorts. Many of the people he's introduced her to have squinted at her in confusion, as if trying to understand why a girl like her would be on the arm of a guy like him. Truthfully, Beca doesn't even know herself. Normally, she would reject anyone who gave her that much attention out of hand, but something about the way he just kept coming back to pester her tired her out and eventually, she didn't have the time or energy to argue with him. If she's being honest with herself, that was probably the reason she'd said yes that day at the radio station - because she was too impatient to deal with the consequences of saying no. 

Beca can say for sure that she had not thought about the consequences of saying yes.

Perhaps a moment before, she would have considered being constantly dragged to parties where she doesn't recognize a single face a consequence. A moment before, she wouldn't have thought she would ever be glad to be at one of these parties. 

A moment before, she wasn't caught in the gaze of one Chloe Beale.

Beca doesn't even have time to panic before Chloe is right in front of her, beaming and a little out of breath.

For a moment, they don't say anything. They just look at each other. Finally, Chloe speaks.

"Hi," Chloe breathes, her eyes sparkling.

With that single word, Beca feels all the doors she boarded up inside when she turned away from Chloe that night crumble in their frames.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you liked it :)  
> i'm @murdermusicandmagic on tumblr


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